Table and Chairs

My wife has been requesting a new kitchen table and chairs. The four leg table and large chairs we inherited from my parents did not work well in our house. I would have liked to build a kitchen table and chairs. However there is just not enough time in the day to build everything I would like to build and complete every project I am assigned by my wife. Also I did not want to buy garage furniture from a big box chain store. On a Saturday a few weeks ago I found a pedestal table at a yard sale. The table is oak and similar to something I would build so I bought it. The table needed to be refinished, but a guy like me has everything to do that on hand so by Sunday night the table was done and in our kitchen.

To make sure the chairs and table match my plan was to buy unfinished chairs. Luckily Woodcrafters Furniture opened in Woodbridge, they specialize in variety fine furniture much of it unfinished, that can be finished to your specifications. Best of all, Woodcrafters is locally owned business. They had many many chairs to choose from, I was drawn to these because: 1. They are 100% oak, bent into shape, no fiberboard or laminate. 2. They have lumbar support bent into the back slats which makes them very comfortable. 3. The chairs are Amish made which means high quality and made in the states. I persuaded my wife and we bought a set of four.

It took some time to finish all four chairs, stain and three coats of polyurethane. Sanding between the coats of polyurethane and giving wet polyurethane a day to dry eats up your schedule.

Overall I am extremely happy with the table and chairs. Even though I did not build these I was part of the process of making them our table and chairs. Also a little sweat and elbow grease probably saved me some money.

Finally let me close by saying, people (by people I mean you ladies) please stop painting furniture. If it is not poplar or pine, don’t paint it. I am sick of seeing fine wood furniture painted at craft shows, on tv and on websites. You think it looks cool now, in 5 years that piece of furniture will be like an avocado color fridge from the seventies.

Mary,
I looked at your site, Wow you are very talented! Just to clarify I do not mind painted furniture that was built to be painted. So if you paint poplar or pine, go for it! In fact I just painted my son’s pine bunk bed. But if you take a nice antique and paint it, you will destroy the value. There are no recently painted antiques on the antiques road show. Also Yes! it looks good…now. Ten years from now? Twenty? Will that painted antique be sent to the dumpster because no one wants to scrape your paint off?

Also I know you want colors to POP! That can be done with mixing wood species and stain. If that is not enough, paint on pine.

Just to offer a 3rd opinion… I inherited a beautiful quartersawn oak farm table and chairs from my grandparents. The table is incredibly versatile and goes from a table for 4 to a table for 12. To replace it would cost a fortune. That said, the chairs are country and I am not. I sold the chairs to a friend who will care for them. And I intend to replace them with either metal and leather or wood chairs. I will paint them to modernize the set. I don’t like pine. It doesn’t finish smoothly and is not my taste. I will feel a bit guilty painting them, but I will get over it and I think they’ll be pretty and wont be boring. I may leave the seat natural to blend with the table. I also have purchased a hickory library table. I will paint it because it has some damage that I will need to patch. I also want it to coordinate with my décor. I’m going to paint it candy apple red and it will be fabulous! Believe me, if someday 50 years from now, someone loves the shape, they will gladly strip it. I’ve done it to many pieces and probably will continue to. So will many others. I think there’s nothing to fear. You can breathe new life into a dated/dowdy looking piece, just by changing the color. It will be ok and no one will throw it in the dumpster. The ugly brown nicked up library table was probably headed for the dumpster if I hadn’t rescued it from the auction. Not feeling guilty when I paint it. But, on the flip side, if a piece has unusual graining, I will likely not paint it because it is already exciting enough. I may paint only part of it, to modernize it. Because styles change and we are in a phase of painted furniture. Appreciate the positive aspects of the trend while it’s here and then we’ll be on to something else that may be more your taste!